Android and Linux on a dual-booting tablet for $100

Maker of "PengPod" tablets is seeking cash on crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

It likely won’t be as sleek or fast as a Nexus 7 or Nexus 10, but a new tablet running both Android and Linux is in the works for open source enthusiasts and lovers of low-budget devices.

PengPod tablets, made by a company called Peacock Imports, will dual-boot Android 4.0 and a version of Linux with the KDE Plasma Active interface for touch screens. But in order to reserve a tablet for yourself, you’ll have to contribute to the company’s crowdfunding project on Indiegogo and hope enough money is raised to begin production.

The folks behind PengPod are off to a slow start, with $769 raised toward its goal of $49,000, which must be met by Dec. 2. Small donations starting at $10 will reserve bootable SD cards preloaded with Linux images suitable for PengPod devices, while $99 will provide a PengPod700 7-inch tablet with 1GB RAM and 8GB SSD. Donating $185 will get you a PengPod1000 10-inch tablet, also with 1GB RAM and 8GB SSD. For $85, there’s a "PengStick" mini PC that can hook up to a monitor or TV and run Android or Linux.

Estimated delivery time is January 2013. "The hardware is ready to be made with no further hardware engineering," the PengPod fundraising page says. "By using crowd funding to consolidate the orders we will be able to achieve the prices listed in the rewards and upgrades to the hardware become possible."

Buyers can choose to have either Android or Linux pre-installed into the internal memory. If you run Android, you’ll be able to dual-boot by using a bootable SD card loaded with Linux.

PengPods and the PengStick use the A10, a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 ARM Core system-on-chip from Allwinner Technology. Both the 7- and 10-inch models have HDMI and USB ports, a front-facing camera, speakers, and Wi-Fi. The 7-inch display has a resolution of 800x480, while the 10-inch display is 1024x600. The 7-inch has a 3300 mAh battery, while the 10-inch comes with a 6000 mAh battery.

A video on the Indiegogo site shows a PengPod running the XBMC media player on Linux, with both the touch screen and a physical keyboard being used. Familiar Linux applications including LibreOffice and Chromium can also run. PengPods use Linaro, an Ubuntu-based root file system for ARM devices, allowing access to many common Ubuntu applications.

"Our goal is to build a powerful, True Linux Tablet, one free of Google and Android's restrictions, at a reasonable price," the PengPod IndieGogo page says. "If you're a Linux fanatic you probably ended up getting an Android phone. Hey, it's Linux right? It'll be open, run all the programs I'm familiar with and let me hack around and have some fun right? Too often, this is not so. That is why we set out to find a way to run real Linux and all the software you really want."

..........unless you are in an unfortunate financial situation, or maybe a school trying to give a kids a leg up in the world but really don't have a budget for fancier products. While not ideal for the tech crowd as defined by Ars, this could be a really neat device for those with limited means.

..........unless you are in an unfortunate financial situation, or maybe a school trying to give a kids a leg up in the world but really don't have a budget for fancier products. While not ideal for the tech crowd as defined by Ars, this could be a really neat device for those with limited means.

Unfortunately, I think the best solution for those with limited means is usually to skip the tech. So it's sad to see things that appeal to me targeted toward the ultra-low end like this.

I think last year, or maybe this year, there was talk of a 7" KDE based tablet, but I don't think it was ever realized. Which is sad, I wanted one.

I think last year, or maybe this year, there was talk of a 7" KDE based tablet, but I don't think it was ever realized. Which is sad, I wanted one.

It was earlier this year, but was foiled due to so many of the Chinese ODMs violating the GPL and selling the tablet but not releasing their kernel sources, often demanding a large sum or a significant (10K-20K) unit order. The person behind this project says he's worked around the issue, even then I'm hesitant to jump behind projects like this precisely due to how terrible the hardware usually is.

The target audience for this seems really small. For most anyone, a cheap netbook would be a better host for Linux than a cheap tablet. (unless someone magically made Linux into a touch-centric OS since I last looked). Sounds like yet another cheap Android device that has a gimmick of "supports linux"* (*poorly)

The target audience for this seems really small. For most anyone, a cheap netbook would be a better host for Linux than a cheap tablet. (unless someone magically made Linux into a touch-centric OS since I last looked). Sounds like yet another cheap Android device that has a gimmick of "supports linux"* (*poorly)

Yeah, I briefly tried Ubuntu on an x86 tablet. It was... not pleasant. It doesn't even seem to know when to present the touch-based keyboard, and can't make the keyboard hover over the Dash so you can search the computer.

This sounds pretty redundant to me honestly (I'm not trying to troll I swear). Android is built off of Linux, and both are open source OSes. Is there really a market for a tablet that runs basically the same type of OSes in one? I think that if someone built a tablet more in line with what logic_88 suggested would be a lot more impressive and useful. Just my thought on it though.

The target audience for this seems really small. For most anyone, a cheap netbook would be a better host for Linux than a cheap tablet. (unless someone magically made Linux into a touch-centric OS since I last looked). Sounds like yet another cheap Android device that has a gimmick of "supports linux"* (*poorly)

Plasma Active is made entirely for touch devices. KDE (wisely in my opinion) have chosen to develop two entirely separate user interfaces; one for desktops/laptops (the normal KDE desktop) and one for touch devices (plasma active). This is unlike Windows/Ubuntu/Gnome, where the focus seems to be on developing a unified interface, resulting in mediocre at best performance in both domains.

It should be noted that I haven't had the chance to try plasma active myself yet, so it may well suck horribly for all i know. But at least their approach seems the right one in my opinion.

You'd be surprised. I picked up a Polaroid tablet for my sister-in-law to use as an E-reader for around $90, and while it's not going to win any performance crowns, it honestly wasn't too shabby. It runs ICS, is quick and responsive, and plays HD Youtube video like a champ.

The target audience for this seems really small. For most anyone, a cheap netbook would be a better host for Linux than a cheap tablet. (unless someone magically made Linux into a touch-centric OS since I last looked). Sounds like yet another cheap Android device that has a gimmick of "supports linux"* (*poorly)

That's the point of Indiegogo and Kickstarter. To fund projects where "the target audience [...] seems really small." It's to get those niches where VC folks fear to tread.

Ok I got the scam. Some chinese company got a hold of a ton of nearly working reject or got a "mystery" shift production of a bunch of shiny new tablets. Because of local bribes or stolen stuff. But lo and behold they don't have magical money to put it on a boat and pay for the tarrifs to get it out of the country.

So where do you get free money?? Kickstarter and Indiegogo! If one goes to Deal Extreme. These devices are a dime a dozen.

If I had to guess, it provides the options for Android because that's a more familiar and proven tablet UI. However, as a KDE user (currently on Kubuntu but considering a jump to OpenSUSE), Active Plasma sounds intriguing. If it has all of the customization features of KDE Desktop, then I'd love to have one.

Even if I could afford to trump down for a 7" right now, I'd be nervous about a unit that sells for so cheap, has no third-party reviews, and doesn't seem to offer any guarantees.I'd even be willing to toss another $50 down just to have that cushion. But $100 is a lot of money to me right now.

Even if they get the money, will there be any manufacturing capacity to actually make these? I think one reason for the iPad mini is just to soak up as much tablet raw materials and manufacturing capacity worldwide as possible to make life hard on Google, Amazon, etc.

If this takes off, it shows you how economically inefficient the Raspberry Pi is - by the time you add wireless and an SD card to the $35 thing, you're getting into $100 cheap tablet territory.

This sounds pretty redundant to me honestly (I'm not trying to troll I swear). Android is built off of Linux, and both are open source OSes. Is there really a market for a tablet that runs basically the same type of OSes in one? I think that if someone built a tablet more in line with what logic_88 suggested would be a lot more impressive and useful. Just my thought on it though.

Since it dual boots you can get the best of both. You can run Netflix in the android side, which you can't get in Linux. Then reboot from the SD and have LibreOffice, Eclipse or any X windows app you really like on the Linux side.

Right now Linux support is dodgy at best for the UG802. That $20.00 premium is a bit steep (percentage-wise), but having a bootable Linux (rooted Android also?) from the getgo might be worth it.

-Pie

They are pretty similar, the PengStick only has a single core, I think everything else is the same hardware wise. The PengStick has a lot better source. The source for the rock chip bootloader isn't available, so there is no way to dual boot it. Also the kernel source code just got out and I don't its got hardware video acceleration available. Seems like there were some other things missing but I only scanned through a forum about it. The Allwinner hardware acceleration works because the community got support from Allwinner to build Linux libraries to enable it, I haven't heard of any official support from Rockchip so I figure thats not going to happen with them.

Ainol (lovely name), despite being a cheapo Chinese company, as still churning out better tablets right now at low margins to make a name, somewhere around $130-150, with IPS displays and dual core A9's in them. And they're not half bad, so long as you don't mind the lack of software support (but then they have a 4.2 tablet out already).

Makes this a really hard sell, since it's the same market with worse hardware

I live in Shenzhen, and here in China you can pick up these units for about $100-$125 USD. My buddy couldn't resist a bargain and bought one a few months ago. I was surprised how well it worked out of the box. Decent performance browsing heavy pages, and the all the 3D games I could throw at it ran smoothly. That Allwiner blows the Rasberry’s CPU out of the water.

Initially, I was tempted to get one. Then I started noticing the problems. The accelerometer hadn't been properly calibrated, meaning some racing games you have to hold the device at a 20 degree angle to drive straight. When the battery started getting low, I plugged it in to its proprietary charger only to find out the touch screen doesn't work when charging.

Then about a week later my buddy said the screen popped out after he left it charging overnight. Turns out the battery had swollen up. All these issue point to shoddy cheap components and lack of testing and QC. With only $100 to spend, suggest a used Kindle or Nexus 7.

..........unless you are in an unfortunate financial situation, or maybe a school trying to give a kids a leg up in the world but really don't have a budget for fancier products. While not ideal for the tech crowd as defined by Ars, this could be a really neat device for those with limited means.

Unfortunately, I think the best solution for those with limited means is usually to skip the tech. So it's sad to see things that appeal to me targeted toward the ultra-low end like this.

I think last year, or maybe this year, there was talk of a 7" KDE based tablet, but I don't think it was ever realized. Which is sad, I wanted one.

It's just this type of tech that's bringing the world and education to remote, poor regions in developing countries. Solar panels provide the electricity to drive their tablets, netbooks and Internet access.

To supply the children in these regions with hard-copy textbooks (and new, updated ones on a regular basis) would be a lot more expensive on a year-to-year basis.

Linux is for everyone, however poor or rich and this is why it is open-source and free.

This sounds pretty redundant to me honestly (I'm not trying to troll I swear). Android is built off of Linux, and both are open source OSes. Is there really a market for a tablet that runs basically the same type of OSes in one? I think that if someone built a tablet more in line with what logic_88 suggested would be a lot more impressive and useful. Just my thought on it though.

Since it dual boots you can get the best of both. You can run Netflix in the android side, which you can't get in Linux. Then reboot from the SD and have LibreOffice, Eclipse or any X windows app you really like on the Linux side.

I agree with Drachensun. We had some early China-made tablets a couple of years ago and users bemoaned the fact they could not do the same things they could in a full Linux desktop. Now, this can be done and they have the thousands of Linux software that will make their tablet really productive so that, except for the most demanding 3D games, work, study and play can all be done on one single tablet.

With the Linux desktop, our library has been able to dispense with having to use Windows or a Mac to word process, design, video / audio edit, scan and print on the network to a multifunction copier in full colour or black-and-white using completely open-source, free Linux software.

cloudfunding should be for research projects and not used as venture capital. PengPod is merely trying to get the money upfront without providing any guarantee for future services or direction of product development.

It's just this type of tech that's bringing the world and education to remote, poor regions in developing countries. Solar panels provide the electricity to drive their tablets, netbooks and Internet access.

To supply the children in these regions with hard-copy textbooks (and new, updated ones on a regular basis) would be a lot more expensive on a year-to-year basis.

Linux is for everyone, however poor or rich and this is why it is open-source and free.

Sure, and please let them have Nook Touch or something similar instead over this stuff.

Ainol (lovely name), despite being a cheapo Chinese company, as still churning out better tablets right now at low margins to make a name, somewhere around $130-150, with IPS displays and dual core A9's in them. And they're not half bad, so long as you don't mind the lack of software support (but then they have a 4.2 tablet out already).

Makes this a really hard sell, since it's the same market with worse hardware

Ainol is quite popular in SlateDroid.com; many custom ROMs are available, and CM10 is being ported to it. Or, to be more precise, "them".

There are several models of Ainol tablets. One of the most popular is Ainol Novo 7 Aurora 2.

I myself purchased an Ainol Novo 7 Crystal about 2 months ago (135 USD), and am quite satisfied. It can run any GPU-guzzling game I threw on it. The display its nice, and the color fidelity remains until you tilt it to the extremes.

And it has one of the easiest way of installing an alternate recovery (e.g., ClockworkMod) I've ever seen: just copy two files into the root of the SD Card, and boot into recovery. No need of flashing, no fear of getting it bricked (if the CWM won't work, just delete the two files and you can immediately use the original recovery).

My point is: it's very very simple to allow dual boot. Just replace the bootloader with something that will first check the root of the SD Card. The hardest part would be compiling and debugging the kernel and toolchain. *That* is where effort must be spent, instead of producing something totally new (with all the headache of manufacturing chain).

My point is: it's very very simple to allow dual boot. Just replace the bootloader with something that will first check the root of the SD Card. The hardest part would be compiling and debugging the kernel and toolchain. *That* is where effort must be spent, instead of producing something totally new (with all the headache of manufacturing chain).

..........unless you are in an unfortunate financial situation, or maybe a school trying to give a kids a leg up in the world but really don't have a budget for fancier products. While not ideal for the tech crowd as defined by Ars, this could be a really neat device for those with limited means.

Unfortunately, I think the best solution for those with limited means is usually to skip the tech. So it's sad to see things that appeal to me targeted toward the ultra-low end like this.

I think last year, or maybe this year, there was talk of a 7" KDE based tablet, but I don't think it was ever realized. Which is sad, I wanted one.

It's just this type of tech that's bringing the world and education to remote, poor regions in developing countries. Solar panels provide the electricity to drive their tablets, netbooks and Internet access.

To supply the children in these regions with hard-copy textbooks (and new, updated ones on a regular basis) would be a lot more expensive on a year-to-year basis.

Linux is for everyone, however poor or rich and this is why it is open-source and free.

MIT Technology Review had a nice piece on just such a program which has already had one surprising result: unlocking the desktop of the tablet without instruction. The observer came one week and found all the "desktops" on the tablets individualized ;-). http://www.technologyreview.com/news/50 ... hemselves/